Vacuum cleaner cartridge



Jan. 30, 1951 w. H. SCHNABEL 2,539,867

VACUUM CLEANER CARTRIDGE Filed July 2, 1e48 Inventor I William H. Schnabel y 9 By Patented Jan. 30, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VACUUM CLEANER CARTRIDGE" William H. Schnabel, Gedarburg, Wisv Application July '2'," 1948, Serial No; 36,665

1 (llainn.v (Cl. 183-22).

This invention relates to new "and useful: improvements andistructural refinementslinzva'cuumt cleaners, more specifi'callmvacuum. cleaners f the:tank type wherein'themdust', etcp, is collected in a removable dust bag, and the principaliob--- je'ct-of' the invention is to facilitate relatively greater operating efiiciency and sanitary-nature;

of: vacuum cleaners of this type.

The dust b'ag'in a. conventional vacuum. cleaner is formed from loosely woven fabric so; as tov facilitatepassage of air therethrough', but assthev dust is deposited in the bag; the mesh. of the fabric becomes gradually fillediwith dust particles which considerably hinder the passage of air:

through c the bag" and? the operatingefiiciency ."of the machine.is'iconsiderably impaired.

An important. feature of. the inven-tionc.there+ fore'resides in the-elimination of'tiie conven tional dust bag and substitution thereofiby a cartridge; so to speak, containingaliquidclean ing agent, matters; beingso' arranged; that the? dust: laden. air: is passed through. theagent and isthereby freed from particles oiiforeignhmats ter before: it is exhausted 'i'nto' theatinosphere.

An additional feature: of l'thei invention: resides-v incthei provision offal filteringscreen at. the air:

exhaust openingof: the cartridge; andial'so; in; the provision of baffles withinthe cartridge ads jacent; the exhaust opening; which :baliles provide assurance against'the possibility of therair tray-- elling'directly'through the outlet'after bubbling;-

through the. liquid. cleaning agent.

A still further feature of the invention liesiin,

the provision of means for automatically closing the air inlet of the cartridge, when the entire machine is tilted f-rorn a substantially horizontal position, whereby the possibility of: theliquid agent spilling through the air inlet is eliminated.

An importantcadvantage of, the invention lies in its simplicity of construction and in its adaptability-"ion convenient substitution for the coir ventional dust bag in existing machines.

With the above. more important objects-and features in viewand suchother objects andiieaztures as may become. apparent as-this specificae;

tion proceeds, the invention" consists essentially of the arrangement and construction of parts as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in

which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a vacuum cleaner, partially broken away so as to reveal the invention in situ therein;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal cross sectional view of the subject shown in Figure 1;

Eigure. 3. is a cross, sectional, view,. taken sub:

stantially in'fithe plane of the line 33 inFigur-e 2, and

Figure'i-isa perspective view of the air. outletscreen and battle assembly used in the invention. Like'characters' of reference are employed to designate like: parts in the specification and? throughout the several views.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings. in detail, the general reference character Id dese ignates a tank type vacuum cleanerof a mores or-less conventional nature, the same including? in its construction ahorizontally disposed cyl;in3- drical housing l2 provided with suitable endlca'p'sv M, i=6 andcontaining in one end portion thereof an electricmotor l8? driving a suitable. blower fan 20.

The remaining end portion of the housing'lz' provides a dust collecting chamber 22; and the" caps l4, l6 areformed with inlet andoutletapertures Mlldrespectively, whereby passageio'i air through the machine is iaciiitated, upon;v ener gizing of the motor l8. 7

In conventional practice, a dust collecting bag is removably receivable in the chamber 22, buts' the invention contemplates the provisions oi a cleaner cartridge 28 in substitution for the conevention'all' bag, as will be clearly apparent from the following disclosure The cartridge 28 embodies in itsconstruction a horizontally elongated receptacle 33' which is intended to receive a quantity of a liquidcl'ean ing agent, such' as water, or' the like, the normal levelof' which is in'dicated at 32- in Figure 2'.

an air inlet duct ii i which extends intothe recep'tacle'and has a downwardly arcuated inner: end portion 38 submerged in the liquid agent in the receptacle, as will be readily understood.-

An air outlet opening 38 is provided in; theupper'portion ofthe, receptacle 3%, and a com:= bined screen and baffle unit it is removably receivable in the receptacle through the medium of the opening 38; The unit 4!] includes a boxlike closure 421' having anopen side ltandispar tiallycovered-by a conveXo-conca've filter screen' 46, a relatively smaller, box-like baffle 48 being secured within the enclosure 2, under the screen 46, as is best shown in Figure 4.

A downwardly extending bafile 5B is secured at the upper end thereof to the underside of the enclosure 42, the baffie 50 having a reversely arcuae5d or angulated lower end portion, as indicated a 2.

It should be understood that the dimensions of thelunit 40 are such thatv it may be. easily in:

The" receptacle 3B-is provided in'one en'd thereof with serted, in a longitudinally tilted position, into the receptacle 3!) through the opening 38 until it is disposed in a position shown in Figure 2, wherein the screen 46, by engaging the outer surface of the receptacle 3%, prevents the unit from dropping completely into the receptacle, as will be clearly apparent. It is to be also noted that in this position, the lower portion 52 of the baffle 50 is partially submerged in the liquid agent in the receptacle, substantially as shown.

The aforementioned duct 34 may be provided at the outer end thereof (inside the cap M) with a tubular adapter 54, whereby a conventional attachment hose 56 may be connected to the duct 34 after being passed through the air inlet aperture 24 in the cap [4. It will be also understood that the dimensions of the cartridge 28 are such that it may be readily installed in the chamber 22 after removal of the cap l4, the cartridge 28 being substituted for the conventional dust bag.

In any event, when the invention is placed in use, dust laden air drawn by the blower 20 through the hose 56 will pass into the receptacle 30 through the duct 34, and while bubbling through the liquid cleaning agent in the receptacle, the air will be freed from dust and other foreign matter. Thereafter, the clean air, after negotiating its passage around the various baffles of the unit 40, is permitted to pass into the chamber 22 through the filter screen 46, so that it may thereafter be discharged through the exhaust aperture 26 of the machine in the usual manner.

The purpose of the screen 46 is to prevent relatively large foreign particles from accidentally passing through the cartridge 28 to the blower 20, while the various baffles in the unit 49 provide assurance that the air, after bubbling through the cleaning agent, does not pass directly through the outlet opening 38, but is maintained as long as possible in contact with the cleaning agent.

The inner end of the receptacle 30 may, if desired, be provided on the underside thereof with a suitable skid 58 for the purpose of retaining the receptacle in a substantially horizontal position. However, in order to prevent the possibility of the liquid agent from spilling outwardly through the duct 34 when the entire vacuum cleaner is tipped from a horizontal position, a normally open closure 68 is pivoted as at 62 to the portion 36 of the duct 3Q, the closure 60 carrying an arm 64, which, in turn, is provided at its outer end with a suitable float 66.

Matters are so arranged that this float, although possessing a certain amount of buoyancy in order to sustain flotation, also possesses suflicient weight so that when the entire machine is tipped in the direction of the arrow 10, the float 66 moves in the direction of the arrow 12 in response to gravity, whereby the closure 60 automatically covers the inner end of the duct 34, and escape of the liquid agent through the duct is prevented. Needless to say, when the machine is in a substantially horizontal position,

the bouyancy of the float 66 normally retains the closure 60 in an open position, as shown in the accompanying drawings.

It should be also explained that when the receptacle is to be filled with water, or the like, the entire cartridge is simply removed from the chamber 22 and the screen and baffle unit 40 is withdrawn from the receptacle through the opening 38.- Thereupon, with the receptacle 30 standing on its inner end M, the liquid agent may be poured into the receptacle through the opening 38 and the opening is so disposed with respect to the lower end 14 that when the liquid level in the upright receptacle reaches the edge 16 of the opening 38, the filling operation is discontinued and the receptacle returned to a horizontal position with the liquid agent being at its proper level indicated at 32. The unit 40 may then be reinstalled in the receptacle and the entire cartridge replaced in the vacuum cleaner.

It is believed that the advantages and use of the invention will be clearly apparent from the foregoing disclosure and accordingly, further description thereof at this point is deemed unnecessary.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having described the claimed as new is:

In a filter cartridge for vacuum cleaners, the combination of a horizontally disposed cylindrical receptacle partly filled with a liquid cleaning agent, an air inlet duct extending into one end of said receptacle and having a down-turned inner end submerged in said liquid agent, an upper portion of the lateral wall of said receptacle being provided with a rectangular air outlet opening, and a combined screen and bafile unit comprising a horizontally elongated panel positioned in the upper portion of the receptacle and having a pair of upturned flanges at the longitudinal edges thereof, a convexo-concave screen secured at opposite edges thereof to said flanges and constituting a foraminous cover for said opening, and .a bafile plate extending downwardly from said panel and having an undulated horizontal lower portion partly submerged in said liquid agent.

invention, what is WILLIAM H. SCHNABEL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Piron Apr. 3, 1928 

